


Frozen but Free Warriors

by Kelblue_Fire18



Category: Alien Series, Original Work, Van Helsing (2004), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abandonment, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Mention of Death, Other, Past Abuse, slight/major violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-09-07 04:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16847362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelblue_Fire18/pseuds/Kelblue_Fire18
Summary: A 17-year-old girl living in Anchorage, Alaska, suffers for three years after her violent uncle abandons her without leaving any marks behind for her or anyone to find at all.When she discovers a hidden cave with dangerous monsters and seven people in cryopods along with another woman, she uncovers a mysterious spell book and a prophecy that one with a heart of bravery and kindness will destroy the dark forces invading her home.Unbeknownst to her, she also unlocks a power passed on to her that will allow her to follow her destiny.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: contains mentions of child abuse and abandonment. If these trigger you, don’t read.

This is it, she thought to herself. My last chance to fight back, I can do this. No, I can’t do this. He’ll kill me. 

Her hand held her beloved father’s switchblade, while her blue eyes shone with determination. Hiding behind her bed in her room, Alli felt her body shake, as she heard her uncle, drunk and staggering, walk into the house she called home. 

“Where are you?!” She can hear him yell out for her, but she wouldn’t dare open the door to let him in; she had already locked it for good measure. “Come on out, wherever you are!” 

Bruises covered half of her face, a gash on her arm had stopped bleeding nearly half an hour ago. She had suffered physical and emotional pain from her uncle for as long as she can remember, yet she remained as kind and brave as her parents. She would often have to lock herself in her room, sometimes to no avail and luck by her side. 

But not today. Today, this ends now. 

“ALLI!” He is getting closer to her room and was about to barge into her room. “Come out here right now, you brat!”

“I have enough of this bullshit,” she whispered, presumably to him. 

She went quickly under her bed, and stayed there, preparing for her surprise attack as he started to kick down the door. Three bams came first, then finally, he actually knocked it down on the fourth try. She can hear his boots walk slowly around her bed, she can see him turn his head toward the bathroom first, then the closet, but he couldn’t see her under the mattress. He didn’t notice where he is standing, right where she wanted him to be. 

NOW! 

She immediately stabbed him in the foot, and that caused him to cry out in pain and fall to the floor, close to Alli, who started to scramble out from under the bed. 

“Get back here, little shit!” He called out angrily. 

She was able to avoid his reach, and rush out of her room, still holding the switchblade. 

He attempted to follow her, but not before falling back down. She was quicker than him, so she had enough time to get out of the house and grab her phone in the process. She can hear him yell for her to come back, but she wasn’t going to look back and face him again. No, she had to find help, for real. 

Alli had forgotten how long she had been running far from her home, but she instinctively remembered slowly walking out of breath, someone spotting her and running towards her, calling her name, then she felt herself falling and her vision went black. 

*****

When she came to, she felt a cold rag on her forehead, and a worried face appeared into her view. 

“Alli, thank heavens you’re awake,” a female voice said to her. 

“Carla?” she replied raspily. 

Then, she realized she’s in a hospital room, far from her uncle, to her relief. “What happened? How did I get here?”

“Don’t talk now, dear,” Carla said to her softly. “Cody told us how he found you walking alone on the streets, and he called me and the paramedics. He has been worried about you since you got here, he wouldn’t leave you here all by yourself for a while. But then, we found the bruises and cuts all over you. We were horrified, truly we were. Who did this to you?”

“Cody? Where-where is he?” Alli ignored her command and didn’t respond to her question, desperate to see her friend so badly.

“He’s already at school right now, sweetie, but he had some other people leave you some ‘get well soon‘ cards. I know he’s such a sweetheart.” 

Sure enough, she saw cards that say ‘Get well soon’ and ‘Get better‘. One says, “To Alli, my little Firebird.” 

She blinked in confusion. 

Who in the world would send her something like that? Her other relatives are living far from her. 

A nurse walked into the room with a tray of food and set it down on the bedside table. “Here you go, sweetie. If you’re ready to eat, it will be right here. Carla, another patient will be needing you for now.”

“I’ll be right there as soon as I can,” she replied. 

The nurse nodded and walked out. 

“I’ll come back and check on you after I’m done with some other patients, okay, Alli?” 

Alli nodded and rested her head on the pillow as Carla exited the room. 

A while later, she held the ‘Firebird’ card in her hands. She messed with the corners for a bit, before hesitating to open it. 

Who would send this to me? Mom and Dad only called me Firebird and sunshine, but not anybody else, she thought in her mind. 

Eventually, she decided to open it, not letting her doubts stop her from doing so. She read the beginning before placing a hand on her lips, heartbroken and about to cry:

“To my little Firebird,  
If you are reading this now, it means I’m already gone. I never meant to cause any pain to your life, nor did I mean to blame you for your parents’ death. I know how much you hate me for what I’ve done to you, but I hated to hurt you like this. I’m running away to someplace they will never find me, but I can’t leave you with nothing at all. I left you some extra funds to care for yourself; I believe $1,000,000 will cover you. Hopefully, it will help you finish school and last you some food for a while. If I see that you run out, I’ll do everything I can to fill you in. Also, I want you to be careful out there. You don’t know what they will do to you. They’re after something, I’m not sure what, but I can’t let them force me to tell them where it is.  
Again, I’m so sorry for hurting you and blaming you for everything that’s happened to you. I love you, truly, so much, my sweet, innocent Firebird.  
Love,  
Uncle D.”

She kept her hand to her mouth, failing to hold back a sob of sadness, as she held the card close to her chest.

‘Did he actually care about me? Would he-? No, he can’t be-he can’t be heartless for leaving me like this. He can’t be.’

Even she feared him for his actions towards her, she still loved him for what he used to be, back before her parents died, and now he deserted her. 

She stayed in the hospital bed, still clutching the card, even before Carla came back and comforted her, seeing her poor friend cry when she saw her uncle’s farewell card. 

*****

“Today marks the third anniversary of the disappearance of Donathon Darrow, the man and a relative who left no trance in the town of Anchorage, Alaska, leaving behind a young niece and friends with broken hearts.” The TV blared across the living area of the house, as Alli put on her boots near the front door. 

“Broken hearts, my ass,” she mumbled to herself as if she didn’t want the TV to hear her. 

She turned it off, though, before walking out and locking the front door behind her. 

It had been three years since her uncle Don abandoned her and the Southern town of Alaska, and she hadn’t seen him again since. No one knew where he had gone to, nor did they know why he left. All they know is, he just up and left the town, not leaving a trace for them to find whatsoever. 

The first time Alli found out he abandoned her, she was in tears and tried to contact him any way she can, but as the weeks went by, she gave up contacting him and started to hope he would come back someday. 

Months went by, however, and she began to think he probably never cared about her or anyone he knew. 

By the first month of the third year he disappeared, she finally decided not to wait for him anymore, and think for herself and the home she grew up in. 

Since the death of her parents, she believed her uncle would take care of her like her father knew he would. However, when she was about to be 7, he started to act differently than she thought. He would go out more frequently, probably to a friend’s house or somewhere she thought is nice, but he came home, drunker and sleeping on the couch. Then one day, Alli begged him to stop drinking and going out, and he hit her. 

He didn’t care about it, though, and he began to yell at her for everything> How long she had been out with friends, how she tidied her room wrong, but the worst thing that caused her to fight back against him, was how her parents’ demise is her fault. 

By the time she was fourteen, she was through with the way her uncle treated her long ago and managed to get away from him, with a price to pay, however. Three years had come and gone with him out of her life, but she didn’t want to care about that. She was free from him. 

She heard someone call out her name as she passed the store, and waved to the person, who waved back in response. One of her friends had texted her earlier, that they wanted to tell her something really important. 

“Better be, or I’m gonna have to go back sooner than expected,” she mumbled to herself, as she pedaled on to her friends’ hangout.


	2. Chapter 1

By the time she arrived at the place where Brittany had told her to go to, it was nearly full with families and couples that she couldn’t see over their heads to find the others. A few minutes later, she can see three heads of platinum blond, black, and golden yellow merged together at the far end of the restaurant. 

“Guys! Over here!” Alli shouted, loud enough for the girls to turn their direction towards her and wave in excitement. 

“Sorry I took so long. I had to make a quick stop at the mail real fast.” 

To her, it was the truth. She was excited internally about the news she was going to share with the girls.

“That’s fine with us, Alli,” said Blaire. “Because it gave us enough time to prepare for the surprise we have today!” 

Both she and Brittany squealed with joy, while Sam sat beside her, grinning like the Cheshire Cat from the Wonderland book. 

“Hey, you know what? So do I! But do any of you guys want to go first, or should I?”

“Actually, since you’re more excited than us, you can go first.”

“No, I’m pretty sure you want to go.”

“You first!” 

“I think you first!” 

“No, you!”

“No, you go!” The four shouted the same phrase to each other, before pausing for a small second, and burst out laughing, which caught a few people’s attention. 

But they ignored their confused gazes. They were having too much fun with it. 

“Okay, we give up,” Brittany piped up. “So, remember Cody from your second-period block? World History?” 

“Yeah? Why? What about it?” Alli’s mouth dropped as the girls each pulled out an envelope with their names on it. 

She then saw that one of them was being passed from Sam to her, that her name was on it, too, in cursive. 

“So, I’m having a birthday party this week, on Saturday, and I thought about inviting you guys over and a few others, too,” Sam said, her smile growing. “And you’ll never guess what else?”

“Please don’t tell you invited Michael James. Because the last time you did, he wrecked the whole thing and left Brittany in tears.”

“Nope, kept my promise this time. Cody offered to come, too.” 

Her eyes widened to the size of golf balls at the mention of his name. 

She knew him since they were kids, and he had helped her through the times during the years with her uncle, even him and his parents supporting her when she told them that he abandoned her. He saved her a few times from Michael and his gang, studied with her, even came to her 15th birthday when no one could. During the last 10 years, however, she also felt a feeling of some sort grow within her towards the boy, but she wanted to ignore it, that she would be scared of him rejecting her, with no avail in sight. 

She shook her head at the thought of him going there, and her having to say her true feelings. “No. No, I can’t come to the party.”

“And why not?” Sam whined. 

“Well…” Alli paused, trying to think up of an excuse to get out of the topic. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t one in sight for her. 

“Aw, c’mon, Al. It’ll be great, and it may be the best time for you to talk to him about how you feel about him.”

“Sam, as much as I want to do it, I can’t. Not if he was going to laugh at me when I tell him that I…” She stopped mid-sentence and grimaced at the thought. 

“Please just think about it,” Sam said gently, her hand on her shoulder. “Besides, my birthday’s only a few months away. That should give you time to rehearse your confession to Cody.” 

She does have a point, Alli thought to herself. That may even give me time to find her the best present I can think of. 

She sighed with finality, her hands up with surrender. 

“Alright, Samantha Rivers,” she declared. “You’ve convinced me. I’m going to your birthday party, and I’ll confess my feelings to him, even if it means the possibility of rejection.” 

The other girls cheered and squealed with excitement, and she can tell that she is already feeling better about this. 

*****

“Are you sure you don’t need a ride home?” Brittany asked while they waited for her mother to pick them up. 

Alli was already preparing to head back on her own since she had her bike parked close to the restaurant. 

“I’ll be fine, Brit,” she replied. “I’ll text one of you guys later, okay?”

“Are you absolutely, positively sure about walking home on your own?” Brittany asked again. 

“Brit, I can handle myself, ok? Just don’t worry about me.”

Finally, she shrugged in defeat. “Alright. We’ll see you later, girl.”

“See ya!” She called back as she mounted on her bike and started for home. 

She was lucky that the others didn’t see her eyes fill up with tears since she was getting far away from them. She really wanted to tell herself that everything is not fine, all because of the lousy excuse of an uncle. He made her suffer, harmed her, blamed her for anything that came up, did anything he could to break her. And it almost worked for him. But she never gave in to him. That’s what her parents wanted her to do. To never give up to someone who tries to break her apart. 

By the time she made it to her room, she could no longer hold back her tears and screamed in her pillow for what felt like hours, until she couldn’t find the strength to scream any further. 

*****

She gazed out the window to the stars, a cup of hot cocoa in her hands, the one beverage that is her favorite thing to drink with her parents when she was younger. She missed her days with them more than anyone can imagine. 

Her thoughts got interrupted when a knock on the door came into her ears, which caused her to put down her cup and walk over to the front door. 

“Please, don’t let that be Michael, or Cody because I’m not in a mood right now,” she muttered under her breath. 

When she approached the door, she peered through the peephole and thought she saw a familiar figure standing outside. 

‘Wait, could that be…?’ Her thoughts are immediately answered when she opened it just a bit, only to have her eyes widen in terror and shock. 

Standing in front of the door, a bag in his hand, her uncle stared with his eyes into her own, filled with guilt and glad at the same moment. Out of all people, he had to come back for her in three years, without giving her any message of his whereabouts or letting her know about his status. He left her all on her own, with nothing but sadness and anger, and left her to fend for herself, and he actually bothered to come back in three years? 

She started to feel rage fill in her when he finally replied, “Hey, Alli.”

“What the hell are you doing back here?” she growled at him softly. 

“I just wanted to say hi, maybe catch up what I’ve missed,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Not interested.” She started to close the door, but he stopped with his foot. 

“C’mon, sweetie. I haven’t seen you in a while, and I’ve felt guilty about it.”

“More like three years. You’ve abandoned me for three goddamn years.”

“And it was something I regretted for that time. Please, just let me in so I can talk to you the right way.”

Something he had regretted for 72 months while he was away? That is something that she didn’t want to believe. But he is her uncle, and he is the only relative who lived here with her before her mom and dad died; other relatives are living far away from here or deceased long ago. And he did make the promise… No, she didn’t want to let him in, not after what he did to her after her parents’ demise and when she found the courage to run away from him. But a part of her wanted to let him in and reconnect with him. That’s something she would have to go through, reconcile with him. 

All sighed finally and opened the door more to let him in. 

“Fine,” she said. “But just for a few hours. Did you find someplace to stay for the time being?” 

“I’m crashing at a friend’s place,” Donavon replied. “He was cool about it.” 

He walked around the house, eyeing the rooms that had been picked up since he left. “I see that you’re keeping the place uptight.”

“Had to make sure it stays clean for anyone stopping by.” She handed him a cup of cocoa, which he gently took from her hands. “So, where did you went off to?”

“Well, just somewhere, but you get the idea.”

“Well, the whole town’s been wondering where you ran off to. They tried to find you…so did I.” She mumbled out the last part. 

“Wow, they were? What did they ask?”

“They were thinking about when you are coming back, how you’re handling things on your own, and…” She paused before she could go on. 

She didn’t want to bring up the part where she waited for him to come back until she had given up. 

“Huh. Guess I scared them something fierce, didn’t I?” 

“You did. Even your pals were wondering where you were back then.”

“Have they said anything else about me?” He asked her. 

He almost seemed hesitant about them. 

“No, just thought about where you were recently.”

“Well, enough about me. Let’s talk about you. How are you doing? How is school? Everything going smoothly so far?”

Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea, after all, she thought. 

“I’m doing okay, no thanks to you. Besides all the shitty stuff heading towards me, I’m doing fine with school. And yes, everything’s going smoothly,” she responded nonchalantly, yet she wanted to yell at the man who left her. 

Donavon nodded softly and sipped his cocoa. “That’s great. So, who was keeping an eye on you while I was gone?”

“Remember the Sanders?” Alli asked him, and when he nodded in response, she replied. “They were watching over me for until I graduate before you came back, that is.”

“Sanders, huh? Must be nice of them to do that.”

“Yeah,” she said, as she placed her cup on the table. “They were nicer than you ever were before you turned to alcohol when Mom and Dad died.” 

The last statement caught him off guard, yet he kept calm as she rose from her seat and headed to her room. 

“Alli, wait a minute,” he started, as he did the same, and followed her. “Just hear me out here-”

“No, I get it. You think it’s my fault your brother died in that fire when I was younger, but it’s actually not.” Her voice rose and her eyes were close to spilling out tears again. “You always went to the bar to drink away your problems, and not even giving a damn about me, or my own problems at all!”

“Alli, please-” 

“You left me to do all of the chores on my own, and not lending me a hand didn’t make things even better! I had to walk home from school, or ride a bus every day because you were always drinking!” 

“Alli-” 

“But the worst part about you… was that you always beat me! I looked up to you, and you turned your back on me when I needed you the most! You blamed me for the whole thing that happened to us! And when I thought things couldn’t get any worse,” she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You left me. You abandoned me after 10 years of having to live with you!”

“I had no choice, Alli! No choice at all!”

“Shut up with your goddamn excuses! Why couldn’t you just leave me alone for once in my life?!” 

But she never expected to see the anger back in Donavon’s eyes, because the next thing she knew, a hand suddenly smacked her straight in her cheek and caused her to fall to the ground below her and against the wall. 

Memories of scars on her body, her face, and unwanted fights came back into her mind after three years, and she could feel her face grow hot from the anger and tears. A deathly silence filled the house, save from Donavon’s panting and Alli’s choked gasps. He looked at his hand first, then at the girl in shock. 

“Alli-” he started, but she suddenly stood up and sprinted to her room, with her uncle staggering behind her. “Alli, wait!”

She quickly closed the door, and locked it, before placing a chair under the knob. The door rattled, while his voice went through, begging to be let in. She put on her sweater, coat, winter cap and finally her snow boots, and went to her window to climb through. 

By the time she fell from the roof and landed on the ground softly, he was already too late to catch her.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains mentions of neglect, death, abandonment, and angst. If these trigger you, then don’t read.

She didn’t know how long she had been running from her neighborhood, her home. In fact, she had no idea where she is even going. But she didn’t care as long as it is far away from him. 

Her feet pounded on the snow below her, and her breathing became rapid, her lungs burning inside her. But all Alli could think about is getting away from him. 

How could be she so stupid? Letting him in the house she never wanted to share with him when she wasn’t even ready to forgive him for beating her senselessly, leaving her behind when she needed him the most? He was even gone for three years without ever giving her a message about his well-being or any progress he made whatsoever. Hell, he never even gave her enough love and care after her parents’ death and before he disappeared from the map, from the town, and from her life for three years. 

And he wanted her to forgive him for what he has done to her for 9 years? That was something she never wanted to do, besides ever seeing him again. She was still thinking about the things he had done, even after she ran into Griffin Park. 

Alli collapsed to the ground on her knees, her breathing slowing down, but heavy, and her eyes filled with hot tears, despite the cold weather in the night. 

She can feel the slap mark on her cheek growing hot, as the tears fell. She wrapped her arms around her chest as if to keep herself warm. She didn’t care if it was the middle of the night, she didn’t care if anyone’s going to notice her in a park, crying her eyes out from the anger and sadness she had to endure from the argument between her and Donavon. She didn’t care at all. 

She missed her mom and dad terribly, and she wanted them back. She wanted them back alive and well. The blue-eyed girl began to wonder what would have happened if they survived the fire accident that took away their lives nearly ten years ago. If they lived, her uncle Don would not have started drinking and spend more time with her rather than at a bar. If they lived, her mother and father would both support her in her hobbies, when she learned that she got accepted into the college she desired to go to. If they lived…

‘Just don’t think about it. Please, whatever you do, don’t think about it. Don’t cry about it, please.’ 

As much as she wanted to, Alli never had the strength to fight back the tears that were falling from her eyes and sob out loud as she could, filling the silence that surrounded the park, which, lucky for her, is unattended at the moment. 

Finally, after a few moments, she stopped screaming, but nevertheless, she kept crying, not only for the loss of her beloved parents but for having to suffer from her uncle all over again. 

Just as Alli was starting to have second thoughts of running away, she heard a small crack of ice and pressure loss from underneath her legs. 

‘That’s weird, there’s no ice here in the park,’ she thought to herself in confusion. 

Before she could move any muscle, the ground underneath her suddenly gave way, and she fell through, a scream escaping from her lips at the same moment. 

She attempted to grab on anything connected to the icy wall, but there was nothing in her reach. She almost managed to grab on an icicle, which broke off the minute she touched it. It only lasted a few good minutes, but for her, it was only an eternity. 

Thankfully, she was not at death’s doorstep. 

Her hands met the blue-colored ground first, then the rest of her body hit the floor. She almost lost consciousness for only a moment, but regained her posture and stood up from the cold ground. 

The teen girl took in her surroundings and saw that she must have landed in a cavern of some sort. However, it didn’t look like a cavern to her in a strange way. 

Pillars and the walls look like they are made to be a castle, nearly similar to the ones she saw in stories when she was younger. The opening where she came through had a somewhat entrance that looked somehow big enough for her to fit. The exit, which is near the entrance, had a wall, like a climbing wall you see in an indoor fun zone. But it would nearly be impossible for her to climb back up if she ever could. 

As the girl backed away to check her surroundings, she bumped into something from behind and jumped back startled. To her relief, whatever she had bumped into, it is frozen, and most likely to be thousands of years old. 

“What the hell did I just fall into?” she wondered. 

The cave, or whatever it is, didn’t look like a normal cave to her, maybe somewhere else she must have fallen into. It could be a castle since it nearly looked like one, but palaces like that, it wasn’t supposed to exist in real life right now. 

Alli kept telling herself that as she wandered around the cavern-like place. 

Eventually, she reached a large set of doors in front of her, the knobs low enough for her to reach. She went to open the doors, but she stopped suddenly. 

Whatever is behind those doors, she might not be ready to face it yet. But she’s a tough girl. She handled stuff worse than her uncle back then. She handled harsh comments about her family, about how she isn’t like her father, when, truth be told, she is brave and stubborn as him before he died from the accident. In fact, she can handle what is behind those doors. 

After having much thought about opening the doors, she grabbed hold of the knobs and pulled in open. 

The room was as almost as big as Alli can think. In fact, big enough to a ballroom, save for the fact that there are long tubes in there, along with a pedestal in the middle. Alli slowly walked around the tubes and observing them as close as she could, until she stopped across the last one. Someone, a man, maybe, somehow looked familiar to her. His hair was long to his shoulders, brown or black, and his figure is well-built. She couldn’t tell if his eyes are closed or open, but she felt as if she had seen them before. 

But from where, though? Where had she seen those eyes? 

Bright light from the pedestal suddenly turned on on its own, which caught her attention away from the tube in front of her. As she got closer to it, a book is laying there, closed and possibly locked. 

Alli traced her fingers across the cover, the pattern appearing into her mind. 

Has she seen it from somewhere, a vision, one of her dreams? She hadn’t recalled seeing it before. 

Before she could stop herself, she picked it and examined it more closely. 

A thump caught her eyes suddenly, and she spun around to see no one behind her and clutched the book in front of her. The night sky is starting to change to a light color soon, indicating that morning is coming. 

“Crap, I’ve got to get back home,” she said to herself. 

With the book in her arms, she eventually found an exit close to the one she had unintentionally found. 

*****

By the time she made it back home, the sun was already rising from the mountains and lighting up the streets. Alli prayed silently that her uncle is not home right now. As she stepped in slowly, she noticed that the bag he had brought with him is gone. 

“Uncle Don?” She called softly. 

When there is no response, she called out again. “Uncle Don, are you home?” 

Again, no response. 

“Looks I’m in the clear. Guess I can try and find something to occupy myself.”

The whole day had passed without any problems, and she planned on calling it a night. But she still wanted to find out what this book can do. 

After she headed to her room, she changed into her pjs and turned her attention to the book. 

Whatever it was, someone must have left it on the pedestal for some reason or another. Did they want someone else to find it? Did they think that it could fall into the wrong hands? Alli decided to put those questions of hers aside and focus on what the book can do. 

She opened the book and she was surprised to find that it is still intact, even after maybe thousands of years being down there in the cold. She flipped through the pages, which felt soft at her fingertips until she came across one that caught her eye. 

On the page that she stopped at, it contains a few spells and drawings of people who are in tubes that are like the ones back at the cavern. What made her feel appalled is that the spells are in a different language, something that she understood in an instant. 

She knew then that it was Latin. She had studied Latin in her free time from school. She began to read a passage she found interesting aloud. 

“If one is ready to face the danger, they must train to become a challenger. Those who care about the ones they love the most, should they run into risks they keep them in their heart and mind close.” She read the passage in Latin, her fingers touching the somewhat soft paper. 

Her eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden and she was no longer able to keep them open before her head hit the pillow. 

Unbeknownst to her, while she read the passage, one of the tubes back at the cavern suddenly opened on its own. A hand twitched at first, then slowly moved. 

The top of the frozen being trapped near the fallen entry crackled slowly, then abruptly exploded. A creature lifted its head and let out a loud roar.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: angst, language

“Nnoo!” She bolted awake straight up from her bed, sweat pouring from her forehead and her eyes widened in complete fear. 

She hadn’t known that her hand had been outstretched to someone or something up to the part where she had woken up from her nightmare. Tears were falling from her blue-colored eyes, something she didn’t felt until she felt her face burn. Her bedroom and the entire house were deadly silent, save from her breathing and choked sobbing as she wrapped her arms around herself. 

“What the hell did I just dream about?” Alli thought in her head as tears continued to fall from her face. 

The last thing she had remembered before she woke up was a heartbroken cry of a man who was holding someone, a child or teen, maybe, kneeling in the middle of a destroyed field. The rest of the nightmare she had she couldn’t remember. Whoever he is, the man from her dream almost looked identical to the one she had seen back in the cavern. 

The book is somehow still open on the page where she had read the passage from last night. 

“I must have fallen asleep before I got to the next page,” she thought to herself. “I got to get back.” 

Alli got off of her bed to get ready to head back to the cavern.

*****

With yellow lights spilling from behind the clouds, they touched her coat with warmth, despite the air being cold as it was every day. Her feet collided with the snowy ground every rushing step she took. With the book hidden underneath her arm, Alli made her way back to the park, all while narrowly dodging incoming cars and sliding across slippery roads a few times. She had forgotten to bring her bike with her. She didn’t care, though. She needed to find whoever else is in the cavern. 

A few or five people were already there by the time she arrived in the park. She was lucky they didn’t notice her entering through the hole, only more carefully than she was last time. 

She held on to the book with all her might while she slid down the icy gap leading her to where she first entered the grotto. She managed to land safely on the ground, the book still in her grip. 

However, the moment she glanced up, fear started to build within her. 

The medium-size glacier where the thing stood when she first came here is now broken into multiple pieces, some of them scattered all over the frozen floor. All that was left was a creature-shaped gap in the center of the glacier. The remaining pieces that were seemingly stuck on the thing had left a trail far behind it. 

Alli clutched the book close to her chest as her heart began to beat faster than when she had been running. Her hand reached to the pocket where she had kept her father’s switchblade for self-defense. 

“Ok, you can do this,” she muttered under her breath. “Just head to where you last saw those tube-like things, and you’ll be fine.” 

She stepped slowly around the glacier and walked to the other room, examining everywhere around her to check if the thing is around and waiting to attack at any moment. 

As she walked over to the room where the long tubes are, she thought she heard footsteps from behind, but whenever she would glance over her shoulder, no one is there. She would keep on walking until a loud thump reached her ears. She spun swiftly only to find nothing in the shadows. She thought she saw something, but she shrugged it off and reached the room. 

Even though she kept telling herself there is nothing in the cave with her, Alli couldn’t help but feel dread fill in and her heart beating faster than she thought. A glow suddenly appeared from the inside of the book, indicating that something has happened on the other side of the room as she got closer to it. 

Only when the girl got to where she needed to be, the doors were opened halfway, and curiosity and fear in her grew bigger than before. 

“What the hell? Did someone get there before me?” She slipped past the doors and stopped abruptly. 

Two of the pods had been opened, both revealing only an empty space and body-shaped marks left behind. Alli squinted her blue eyes, her mouth opened slightly. 

“What the-”

Before she can process the possibility of the persons being somewhere, a low growl echoed through the door. The hairs on her back went up as she stood very still, frozen in fear alongside the book in her arms. 

Footsteps, the same footsteps that had been following her the entire time, accompanied the pattern of the soft growls coming closer every second. She felt like she wanted to move, but the minute she did, whoever or whatever is following her would come after her in a millisecond. 

“Don’t stand still and hide! You can still get out of here! Just hide and run!” Various thoughts came into her head, but no matter how much she wanted to listen to them, she couldn’t move, even as the deafening sounds came closer in every move. 

Finally, with as much strength as she had, she immediately hid behind the empty pod, just as the thing, a creature, entered the room, a low purr escaping its jaws. 

Its feet crackled the ice underneath and its tail dragged behind as it sniffed in the air, presumably looking for her. It felt like an eternity when Alli held her breath when it got to where she is hiding, but went to a different location. 

She sighed in relief and looked from behind the pod to see it exiting the room. 

However, the minute she stepped up off the floor, something broke from underneath her footing, catching the creature’s attention. 

She finally had a good look at its facial features. It doesn’t have any eyes, save a snarling, drooling mouth, but the look is absolutely clear; it is hungry and looking straight at Alli. 

“Oh, shit!” She exclaimed. 

With the journal in her arms, she avoided the monster’s attack and ran out of the large room. 

Her feet pounded on the floor, nearly slipping as she ran from the creature that is literally chasing after her right now, her breathing becoming rapid. She glanced over her shoulder to see the monster getting closer to her, with its teeth bared and snarling. A loud yelp escaped her lips just as its jaws nearly caught her hood and slipped on the ice. 

Her eye caught another door on the other side, and she barely got inside before the creature can try to catch her again. Finding a lock to secure the door for good measure, Alli backed away, having dropped the journal next to her, trying to find somewhere better to hide. 

When she found nowhere to shelter herself, she hid in the shadows, hoping to avoid the monster’s gaze. Thumps from outside echoed around the room, terror rising within her and loud roars rhythmically together. 

Eventually, the door had been knocked down, and the beast sets its sightless gaze on Alli, who tried to scoot away on horror. It landed on its four legs and prepared itself for its next move. 

“No, no, no, no! Please! NO!” She begged, her back meeting the wall behind her. 

She had nowhere else to go. 

The monster suddenly pounced at her, its jaws open just as she let out an ear-piercing scream and held her arms in front of her face, closing her tear-stained eyes tightly. 

However, she didn’t feel its legs or deadly teeth on her face, for she heard first a loud grunt, which sounded like a man, then a thud and a booming roar, which she could tell belong to the beast that had been chasing after her. 

She looked up slowly to see the figure of a man standing in front of her in a defensive position, all while the monster snarled angrily, gazing hungrily still on the girl trying to scoot away. The man saw this, for he moved a bit more in front of her so it wouldn’t look at her as its prey. His hand suddenly glow a bright purple as he is preparing himself to fight. 

Alli didn’t notice it; she was too scared about what to do next. 

“Go, get out of here,” the man said to her without breaking eye contact with the beast. 

Without warning, he helped her up after she had grabbed the book. “Find somewhere to hide and don’t come out under any circumstances.” 

With few hesitations, she hastily ran to the other door that the monster was not blocking just as the sounds of a battle between the man who saved her and the monster are immediately roused. 

Even though she had to find somewhere to keep out of danger, she felt like she wanted to help the man out. The only problem for her, she doesn’t have a weapon on her besides the switchblade. 

The fight between the man and the black creature lasted for only a moment, but for her, it felt like forever. Alli was scared of who was going to win. 

Eventually, the man walked out of the room, with only a few cuts and small blood coming out of his mouth, possibly from a blow. 

Before she even had a chance to say something, the last thing she remembered is someone hitting her from behind, the book was taken out of her arms in an instant and the man’s voice called out to whoever hit her. 

*****

In the process of waking up slowly, she thought she heard her father’s voice calling for her over the sounds of coffee, his favorite kind, being prepared in the kitchen. 

“Wake up, little sunshine! Breakfast is ready, school bus is gonna be here in an hour!” 

Over the faint noise, Alli can hear a few kids laughing outside her window, and bright lighting shining right in her eyes.

Only when she stood up from the bed she was laying in, her room didn’t have a window, save a skylight. And… this isn’t her room, just a different place. The walls are colored clear blue, gold and white, and there are just a wardrobe and two night-stands on each side of the bed. And her father’s voice and kids laughter… it was all a dream for her. But she wished it were like he was still alive. 

“No, don’t think about it. Just don’t think about how Dad died.” 

And this time, her warning was heard, only a few tears just came at the thought of his grinning face and dancing eyes. 

“But where the hell am I? Am I back at the house, or…?” 

Then realization dawned on her. 

She came back to the cavern to find more answers about who or what else was down there, she got attacked by some monster thing, she got rescued by a man with a glowing hand, she had the book in her arms, then… 

Her thoughts stopped suddenly. 

She is still in the grotto! 

And the book! Where’s the book? 

She searched the room everywhere for any signs of it, but the only things she found in there are her coat, winter hat, and boots; she had noticed then she was wearing slippers of some sort. 

After what seems like forever of searching, she sat down on the floor, sighing in defeat. 

If it’s not in here, then where could it be? 

Her eyes lit up. She hadn’t looked in any other place in this cave, palace, whatever this is. She’s gotta keep looking. 

After putting on her coat and boots, Alli headed to the rooms where she believed the book might be in. Searching every place and no signs of the large journal. She has to keep looking for it. 

“Hello?” She called out, with no response in return. “Anybody here?”

How can there be no one here? She saw a man with a glowing arm defend her from that creature, which she could have sworn saw from that Alien movie. But she never got a chance to see whoever hit her on the back of her head and took the book from her. 

Maybe… the man in the pod, the man from her dream? Maybe he knows where it is. 

She decided to follow her head to where she last saw him. 

The room in where the arm-man had rescued her earlier was completely empty, besides what was left of the creature, by the time Alli skidded to a halt. She walked in slowly just in case someone else is in there and turned on the light. 

The empty area revealed itself to be none other than a study room, or maybe an experimental study. But no sight of the book anywhere.

She tried the next one, which turns out to be some kind of ballroom, large enough for a party to be planned. No luck. 

After searching through different rooms (weapons area, art studio, even a kitchen), there was still no luck in finding the large journal that Alli had found in the cryopod area. 

She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, sighing at her failed efforts of searching. All she ever was read one single passage and that had been taken from her without giving her another chance of reading the whole thing. 

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting in disappointment before she lit up without warning. This place must have a library, that’s where the book might be. All at once, she got up off the floor and headed to where the journal might be. 

When she did find the library, it was huge enough to house at least thousands, maybe millions of booklets. Alli hurriedly searched the tables and aisles until her eyes landed on the large book, which is surrounded by other pamphlets. 

“There it is!″ She exclaimed in victory, relieved that it was still here. 

But as she was about to grab it, a strong hand grabbed her instantly by the collar, pulling her back away from the large journal. A scream escaped from her lips as she landed on her back on the floor. She never got a chance to stand back up, for a pair of hands seized her again by the front of her sweatshirt, and lifting her off the ground. Her attempts to prying the fingers off her were thwarted, as the person’s grasp was very strong. 

“Who are you? What are you doing? Where are the Paladins?!” A female’s voice boomed in anger as the younger girl struggled to get free. 

As she glanced at the person who is holding her, her eyes squinted and her mouth dropped. 

Save from her lightly dark skin, there is something strange about this woman’s appearance. Her eyes have a small pink dot as orbs, her ears are pointed, hair is white, and small pink marks cover both her cheeks. And are the earrings hanging on her ears in midair? 

She continued to stare at her dumbfounded before she found herself slammed onto the table where the book is close to her. 

“I’m not asking again! Who are you? Where are the Paladins?! What are your intentions here?!” The woman demanded again. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear!” Alli pleaded in fear. “Just let me go!” 

“Do you work for Zarkon? How did you find this place?!” 

The female stopped when she saw the hand-shaped mark on Alli’s face, and her eyes relaxed a bit. “Who did this to you?”

As the woman got occupied, she pushed her back in the stomach and rolled on the side, grabbing the book in the process before bolting for the door. She then evaded the strange woman’s attempt of stopping her. 

Considering that the floor is icy underground, this should give her a quick head start. In the act of slide-turning around corners, she would look over her shoulder to see if the strange woman is following and close to catching her. 

When she found out that she is no longer behind her and the entryway is near, a feeling of comfort came to her. 

That feeling escaped her quickly when she suddenly slammed into someone strong. Whoever she had hit didn’t fall to the ground like she did. The book once again fell off her arms and away from her reach. She cursed at herself for letting it go repeatedly. 

As she started to pull herself up, she stopped to see the man, that same man who saved her, standing in front of her, more clearly than she realized. 

The front part of his hair is pure white, just like the woman’s, while the rest is black. His right arm looked like they had been replaced by a prosthetic one. Alli can see a scar across his face, close to his eyes. By the looks of him, he could be Japanese. But regardless of his heroic deed to protecting her, she is still frightened. 

“Are you alright?” The person asked her. 

But as he tried to reach for her, she quickly scooted away, while lightly whimpering in panic. She had forgotten about the female who had been pursuing her until she heard footsteps echoing in the hall. She instantly got up and took the large pamphlet again before the man could grab her. 

“Shiro? Are you okay?” She can hear the woman’s voice call to the man, who Alli can now guess is Shiro. 

Their voices faded the farther she got away from them. As she hid behind a corner, she can see the exit, the one she had taken after she had found the cavern. 

“I’m almost out,” she thought excitedly. “Then maybe I can forget about this nightmare.” 

She hurriedly rushed to the exit, excited and relieved for this to be all over. But halfway there, she felt again being pulled by her coat, and she let out a terrified scream before hitting the ground. She held the book this time, but it got knocked away from her hands, and the next thing she understood, her back hit the wall behind her, with powerful hands holding her by the front like before. 

“Don’t hurt me, please!” Alli cried in fear, struggling to break free. 

She thrashed at first but felt a knife being pressed to her throat, forcing her to stop. She didn’t want to know what would happen if she continued fighting. 

“Why not?” Another man’s voice asked her in caution. 

She then noticed, to her horror, that it was the same man from one of the pods, only… he must be pissed off about something. 

“Put her down!” Shiro had gone around the corner to see the man from the pod holding her threateningly. 

That caught the other man’s attention, and he instantly let her go. The minute he did, she crawled hastily, and grabbed the large writing again and sped off with the three people now distracted and their attention away from her. They were too busy arguing about whether to let her live or die. Their voices faded away once again as she kept on running to find a safe place. 

Alli suddenly slowed down when she saw another new door on her right side. She hadn’t seen that before. It was a bit different than the other ones. It was taller and probably older, about thousands of years old. But she didn’t question about entering it. She was too scared of the three people who might be looking for her right now. 

Closing the door in a flash behind her, she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily from running and the fear building within her. She wiped a few tears from her face since it was from how the man from the pod had looked like when he held her. Her hand touched her now hot cheek where the slap had hit her. 

Alli stayed against the wall for a while before she turned on the lights and the room lit up. 

It was almost as big as the one with the cryopods, but there was something different about it, much strange than the cryo-room. The walls are covered in murals, a few of them like they came from her visions. 

In the middle of the ground below, stood a pedestal with a radiating crystal-like object in the middle. As she went down the stairs, she stared up at the murals in wonderment, wondering how someone who built this had managed to paint something like this. 

One of them caught her eye. That mural looked just like her dream from last night. Even the man and the girl looked the same as from her vision. She opened the book and found the page where another image like that is with a passage. 

“And his heart shattered the minute his sun lost its light.” Alli read the paragraph in Latin. “As he stood in the middle of the battle, she was struck by the enemy she feared and hated her whole life. She lost her breath before she could hit the blood-covered dirt. In a storm of madness, he destroyed the one who robbed her of her life, but it was too late to save her; even with his tears, he knew she would not be brought back.” 

She was already crying before she could even finish reading it. It was definitely like her dream from last night. She could even feel her heart breaking more than she ever thought for the poor man from her vision. He must have loved her like a daughter. 

A small sound, more of someone landing, caught her ear, and she spun to see someone standing in the shadows. Remembering the knife in her pocket, Alli pulled it out and held in a firm grip, her eyes never leaving the shadowy figure. 

“Who are you?” She asked, trying to sound brave as she can. “Show yourself!”

“As you wish, my dear Emery,” the form replied. 

When he stepped out of the darknesses, her orbs shrunk at the clear view of him. 

With his skin as pale as light, his hair was pulled in a ponytail, and his robes are black as the night sky, His dark eyes landed on her and examined all over her, a sinister grin growing on his face. Alli stood her ground, not wanting to show him that she is afraid of him.

“Hello, Emery,” the figure said to her wickedly before bowing slightly to her. “I am Count Vladislaus Dragulia.” 

“I don’t know what the hell you are talking about, but I’m not who you think I am.” 

The man stepped closer to her, all while she was trying to get away from him without him knowing. 

“You don’t remember, do you?” 

“What? I don’t remember what?” 

At that moment, two women suddenly appeared behind her. She yelped in fear, but still held her switchblade. She noticed that she had put down the book on the table before Dracula had appeared. 

“17 years old, perfectly healthy,” a red-head said, examining the frightened girl. 

The other woman with wavy, blonde hair nodded in the very most uncomfortable way, eyeing her. A third woman appeared, frightening Alli exceedingly. 

“Hello, Emery, my dear.” The third woman, a dark brunette, stepped out of the shadows. 

The last thing that moved out from the darkness immediately caused her to want to scream for the three people. A creature, approximately like the one that had hunted her before Shiro rescued her, gallivanted gradually to Dracula, its teeth barred menacingly. It has the same eyeless face as the last one, but it doesn’t have a tail behind it. 

Now Alli is trapped down there, with four hungry-looking vampires and a new beast, much more dangerous than the last one. 

She held her small blade tighter than before, not allowing to slip out of her hands. “Get the fuck away from me!” 

“Such a feisty, young one,” the dark brunette said coldly, walking alongside Dracula. “Yet, I’ve never seen anyone, except Anna Valerious, stand up to us this way.” 

Anna Valerious? Who the hell is she? 

Alli then felt cold fingers tracing behind her neck, prompting her to furiously swing her small knife at the blonde. Unfortunately, she had caught her wrist before she could plunge it into her. 

The sudden grip made her drop her switchblade, and she cried out in pain since the hold was so strong it felt might she might break her arm. The blonde then spun her around and landed her on the table, her grip not loosening for one second. She held the struggling teenager, while Dracula, his two other brides, and the creature surrounded her. 

“Let me GO!” 

“You might as well stop fighting, Emery. There’s no one to save you now.” 

The beast held her down as the three brides stroked her neck and started taking off her coat. She continued to struggle, despite the monster’s weight on her. 

“I can feel fresh blood running within her veins.” 

The red-head pulled back her coat and sweater, exposing her skin to the cold air. Finally, the creature prevented Alli from struggling any further by digging its claws into her sleeves. 

She howled out in distress as she felt sharp nails dig into her arms. She was sure blood would be coming out from them. 

“I want the first bite.” 

Both the red-head and the dark brunette growled at each other before a hand pulled her back roughly by her hair, her neck more exposed to the atmosphere. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come in. However, it never came. 

“HEY!” 

The vampires and the creature turned their attention to whoever the voice belonged to. Alli did the same, lifting her head to get a good view of her soon-to-be savior. 

A boy, looking a year older than her, stood in the light, his sword and shield held firmly. Black bangs of hair half-covered his face, his gray-violet eyes showing anger at the vampires and beast. He was wearing an armor she thought she remembered seeing before. 

“And who are you, child?” Dracula questioned him perilously. 

“Back off from the lady,” the boy responded dangerously, holding the sword more. 

“Trust me, there is nothing lady-like about her,” the first bride stood from the table, much to Alli’s relief. 

The other two, however, are extremely too close to biting her. 

“Second warning, hands off of her.” The boy in red was close to charging them with his blade and his shield used for protection. 

“You dare fight the Prince of Darkness alone? A boy who can’t fight a feared monster?”

“He won’t be alone,” another voice, whom Alli is convinced belonged to Shiro, appeared. 

Sure enough, he and Allura are now beside the boy in the red and white armor. 

But the man from the pod-he was nowhere to be found. Where is he? 

Even though she is scared of what he would have done to her, she really wanted him to fight alongside the threesome. 

“Oh, this will be fun.” 

The creature and the two other brides inadvertently released her from their grips, and she scrambled off the table, holding both her gaping arms. 

And soon as the boy swung his sword at the dark brunette and got her by the shoulder, the fight was on. 

Alli tried distracting herself from the fight by focusing on stopping the blood on her arms. She pressed her hands on them, only for them to be covered in blood as well. Shiro saw this after throwing the beast across the room and grabbed a cover before hurriedly making his way to her. 

“Did they hurt you?” He asked her softly. 

“They were going to kill me,” she answered, her voice shaking from the terror. “I never thought you would stop them in time.” 

She thought she felt tears flowing from underneath her eyes. 

Shiro ripped the sheet into pieces large enough to cover the wounds. Pulling the coat off of her, he wrapped the pieces around the injuries gently, while stealing looks at the woman and boy fighting off the vampires and beast. 

Ultimately, the wounds were taken care of, but Alli couldn’t stop shaking and crying lightly from nearly being killed. 

“Just find somewhere, anywhere, try and stay out of the way as long as you can,” Shiro reassured her, helping her up off the ground. 

“But what about you? I don’t want you to get injured because of me.”

“We can take care of ourselves. Just find somewhere to hide. Go!”

The moment he shouted that last sentence, one of the brides leaped at Shiro and Alli, but the boy in red was quick enough to prevent her by clutching both her wings and holding her back. He threw her back over his shoulder before sharing a short glance with the girl. 

His eyes met hers, and she swore that she saw something sparkle in his orbs. 

A loud roar piercing her ears, she recollected that she needed to hide from the danger, and got up as quickly as she could. The boy also remembered the purpose he was down there, and with Shiro, he continued fighting with the vampires. 

As the noises quieted from her ears the distant she ran, she ran into one of the rooms where she had searched for the book, which she had forgotten back at where the vampires and beast had confronted her. The noise stopped when she closed the door in front of her. She sighed in relief, but the fear still didn’t leave her. 

However, as she backed away from it in case they would try to break in, she bumped into someone from behind, and the instant she felt a hand wrap powerfully around her neck, she knew who it was. Her feet no longer touched the ground, but began twitching as she attempted to pry off the fingers of the vampire prince. 

“Be happy in the knowledge that I will weep over your body,” Dracula growled rather menacingly and licked her cheek, prompting her to cry uncomfortably. 

Though as he is about to sink his teeth into her, a thud stopped him, and a second later, something was pushed straight into his back and he groaned in agony. His hand released Alli, who fell to the ground with a yelp and massaged her throat. 

She gazed up to see the man, who had confronted her when she tried to escape, stabbing a stake of some sort in Dracula’s back. After making sure it made through his heart, he grabbed her gently by the arm since he saw they were wounded and bloodied, and pulled her behind him in a protective position. 

He turned to look at her, and she could tell that he isn’t pissed off anymore. Just relieved worried… and scared for her?

The sound of something being pulled off of a body caught their attention, and Dracula was holding the stake the man had struck on him with. How is he not dead? 

A dark smile appeared across his lips when he saw who did this. 

“Gabriel, I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting you to attack a human being like her,” the man spat back, pushing her a bit more behind him. 

“Please let me see her for just a while more.” Dracula didn’t seem to be fazed by both “Gabriel’s” anger or Alli’s discomfort towards him. 

He took a step closer, and the other man reached for something on his side, something that she or Dracula couldn’t see. 

“So what is it that you want with her anyway?”

“Nothing too important. All I need from her is just a little bit of blood from her delicate neck.” 

At that moment, the other man pulled out a crucifix from underneath his coat and aimed at Dracula. However, when he grabbed it, it quickly dissolved all while he screamed in agony. It fell from his grasp onto his ground when it became no more than liquid. 

How in the fucking hell is he not dead?

“Perhaps there is a conversation for another moment,” Dracula said in finality. “Now, please, my friend, let me have peace with Emery here.” 

At the mention of the name, “Gabriel” cocked an eyebrow and turned to face Alli, while she darted knives at the vampire. 

Screams of agony and sorrow echoed from the mural area, which caused the prince of Darkness to turn to where it is coming from. Seeing their one chance of escape, Alli immediately grabbed “Gabriel’s” hand and pulled him along with her through another alternate route to where she last saw the three other people. 

By the time they made it back, the other two brides had flown out through a skylight above in giant monster form, with Dracula in the same but bigger form. 

The first bride and the creature were nowhere near them. Where are they and what happened to them? 

Her questions are soon answered when she nearly tripped over the now dissolved corpse of the blonde. Her eyes then landed on the lifeless body of the beast who gave her the wounds. She wanted to look away from it, she really wanted to. 

She then saw the book on the table, untouched, and went to grab it. However, the woman was the first to catch it before the younger girl can. She went pick up her switchblade. It was also taken from her by the female. 

“We know you have questions for us, but we also have questions for you as well. You’re going to have to answer them as honest as possible.”

“Look, if you wanted to know about me doing some shit earlier, I don’t know what you are talking about, I swear to that.”

“I understand that, miss. But you need to answer them while we fix you up. They must have hurt you very badly.”

*****

With her arms finally taken care of properly, the woman decided to introduce herself Allura of Altea and the boy in the red armor Keith Kogane. Alli already knew Shiro, the man who had saved her from the different creature. The man who confronted Dracula, she already knew that he is the famed Van Helsing. 

“So, how long ago did you come here?”

“I only came here last night, trying to keep my mind off things.”

“Is the bruise on your cheek the reason why you came here?” 

Alli immediately remembered the mark on her face and tried to cover it with the collar of her sweater. 

Still, Shiro caught her hand before she could conceal it completely, and removed it down softly for the mark to be seen by four of the people in the area. 

Allura covered her mouth in horror, while both the boy and Van Helsing gazed in shock. Shiro had a mixture of sorrow and awe in his eyes as he examined the bruise. 

The younger girl glanced down at the ground in guilt. She tried to think about the fight between her and her uncle when he came back and tried to “reconnect” with her.

“Who did this to you?” The man in front of her asked. 

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she got up and grabbed her coat off of Van Helsing’s hands, heading for the exit. 

“Did you read the spellbook from where you have found it?” Allura called after her, still worried about whoever gave her the bruise. 

Alli stopped for a short minute, before replying softly, “Yes.” 

She didn’t bother waiting for the others before she walked out into the sunlight.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains language, mentions of abuse, death, and abandonment. If any of these or both trigger you, do not read.

Her blue orbs focused on the ground below her, while she passed a few people and some gave her raised eyebrows and dropped mouths. One had asked her if she is alright, by the looks of her arms. She had responded that she is fine and that she had been in a tough fight. 

She could care less about them staring at her. She is going home. 

Alli had forgotten to bring the book back with her, but she didn’t worry about it this time. 

All she could think of is how the man looked identical to the one in her dreams, about how Shiro saved her two times, one from the first monster, and another from the vampires and the different beast. 

But most importantly, she couldn’t stop thinking about the name Dracula had nicknamed her. 

Emery. 

Why do they call her that? Have they mistaken her for someone else? She didn’t have time to correct them of her name. Maybe they have seen her before? What did he mean by she did not remember? Remember what? 

Emery. 

She hadn’t heard that name before. In fact, she hadn’t heard that name in the longest time. The only time she had seen that name was in a catalog she had one time. 

But she didn’t want to think about it anymore. She just wanted to get home. She would have to go back to the cavern another time. 

Her fingers touching the doorknob, Alli still even couldn’t stop thinking about the boy in the red armor, the one who managed to prevent the vampires from killing her, from turning her into one of their own. 

His eyes were… comforting, loving even, towards her. Even though they were hidden behind his bangs, she could tell they directed not at Shiro, but right at her. She could barely recollect who glanced at her that way last time, a long time ago. 

As she stepped into the house, she couldn’t help but feel that someone is in there before her, in the living room, waiting for her. 

Her stomach suddenly sunk with horror. Whoever is in here with her probably won’t leave without confronting her first. Her feet slowly touched the floor, creaking with each step she took. Her breathing became shallow, with her heart rising every second. 

When she stepped into the living room, her heart completely dropped in anger and horror. 

“Alli, I’ve been waiting for you,” Donavon stood up from the coffee table, his arms folded in front of his chest. 

Guilt and solemn was in his eyes, but she wasn’t going to buy it. Not after what happened last time. 

“What the hell are you doing here? Wait, it doesn’t matter. You need to get out. Now!”

“Wait, Alli. Just hear me out. We need to talk about–”

“I don’t care what the fuck you want to talk about. I told you I didn’t want you around me again! I told you to leave me the fuck alone, but you are so persistent of seeing me, that you even have the fucking nerve to come back here! And you’re expecting me to accept your stupid apology?! After you’ve been gone for 3 fucking goddamn years?! You never even bothered to call me! Let alone message me!” 

“Sweetheart, please–”

“Shut up! Just shut the hell up! You already lost the chance to apologize! That chance is gone the moment you left me! It’s gone the moment you hit me! It’s gone the moment you showed you never cared about me at all! I want you the hell out of the house, and stay the fuck away from me! I never want to see you again!” 

The house was filled with deathly silence once more, and none of them one made a muscle. Donavon still stood there, with a new expression of shock, more than she was before. 

“Just… get out. NOW.” Her tone shook, as tears are falling down from her eyes. 

When he still didn’t move, her voice got louder than the last time. “GET OUT!” 

As soon as Alli yelled the statement, Donavon walked slowly passed her, the disappointed look never leaving his face. 

But before he walked out the front door, he gave one last glance at her without her noticing, his eyes filled with tears as well. 

*****

“Oh, god! WHY?!” 

Muffled sobs of frustration and heartbreak from underneath the pillow were unheard from her room by the neighbors; she thanked the heavens for that. 

“What did I do to deserve this? What the fuck did I do wrong?!” 

Alli wiped her face to dry the tears, but regardless, she kept crying and planted her face back in the pillow. 

3 years of freedom from the monster that used to haunt her, and he came back to try and apologize to her, for leaving her when she needed him, for hurting her when she looked up to him and no one else to turn to. She was unprepared for it. She never wanted to be prepared for it. 

She was too busy sobbing away her heartbreak and rage to see someone gazing at her, observing her in sympathy. 

*****

He never knew that he would follow a young, beautiful girl all the way from wherever he got trapped in for who knows how long. Hell, he never knew that she was trying to withhold something from him or the others. 

As Keith heeded the tracks she left behind from the cavern, he couldn’t help but think about those blues eyes of hers; they are like the skies, the skies he used to look up to at day and night. 

The first moment he laid attention on her, she’d been surrounded by pale-like people and a beast that nearly echoed the movements of the monsters he had encountered. He couldn’t see her face, but he’d heard her cry out in fear and pain, as the women and the creature were preparing themselves to kill her, while the man, with the same ghostly skin as theirs, watched in satisfaction. He wasn’t going to stand there and watch them suck the innocent life out of her. 

During the battle, he’d been glad that he managed to save Shiro and the girl from one of the ghastly people. Unfortunately, he had stopped long enough to stare into her sky-blue orbs. 

Even she looked scared, she seemed like she had been through worse, what with the bruise on her cheek, hand-shaped which was made from someone. Keith had turned his attention back to fighting off the monsters the moment she ran off to find safety. 

During the battle, he couldn’t concentrate on battling them. All he could think about was how scared she is right now and if she is alright. The last time he had seen her was when she was confronted by Allura, Shiro and another man who appears to know the pale monsters. They were asking her about where she had found this book, how long she had known about it, what her intentions are for this place. 

As soon as they got to the part where Shiro asked about the bruise, he became concerned for her more than before. He could tell that she was about to cry before she could even answer, and he instantly felt her pain, even after she answered she did read the book and left. Only a few minutes later, he listened to his gut, and followed through the entrance, after Allura told him to find her so they can free the others that are down there. 

Keith lost the tracks which belonged to the girl until he could hear screaming, which sounded more like arguing coming from the house he was nearing unintentionally. He hid behind a shack, and he peeked out from behind it to see a man walking out solemnly, his hands in his pockets. 

He remained hidden until the man passed where he was hiding, and he headed to where the noise was coming from. 

As he got closer, he was welcomed by a new sound. Someone, probably belonging to the same girl, sobbing, through the bedroom window. 

“Don’t stand there, dast idiot,” the mullet-haired boy mumbled to himself. “You gotta go up there and talk to her. Find out what’s happened to her.” 

Finally, he sighed in defeat and clambered up to the bedroom window. Sure enough, there she was, crying on her pillow, her arms under it. Was it from the argument she was having with that man? He couldn’t be sure. He has to know about it. 

“No, what am I doing? I can’t do this. I don’t know her. No, I have to. I have to make sure she’s okay. Besides, we do need her help. We need her help.” 

Inhaling deeply, Keith got up to her windowpane, and before he could stop himself, he rapped his fingers against the glass. 

Alli looked up from her pillow, wiping her tears in the progress. Through her blurry vision, she could see black hair, and a red, white and gold coat. 

‘What the-? Is that the same boy from down there?’ 

Her vision was no longer blurry, and she could see clearly that it is, in fact, the same boy from the cavern. 

‘How did he manage to follow me all the way from there?’ 

She was still trying to answer the question as she walked to the window, where the boy is. He can tell that she is not crying anymore, but her eyes are red and puffy from the looks of it. She must have been through a lot than he thought. 

“What do you want now?”

“Hey, um…” Keith said finally. “I’m sorry to disturb you and all, but can you roll up your window? It’s important.”

“How am I supposed to know you’re not dangerous, or a pervert?” 

“I saved your life down there, remember?” The boy tried his best not to sound agitated. “The least you could do is thank me.” 

Alli realized he was right. But even though he did save her life, she was still afraid of him. 

“I’m sorry, but… I-I don’t think I’m in a mood right now. Can you try and come back tomorrow, if you can?”

“Heh, don’t think that’s a possibility. Right now, I need to talk to you about something–”

“If you’re trying to make me tell you about this shit concerning that book of yours, or whoever hit me, I swear to God–”

“I’m not here to argue with you. We need to talk, NOW.” 

The boy was instantly close to being angry and breaking down the glass. Even if she didn’t want to, she would have to. He did say it is urgent, whatever he wants to talk about. 

She sighed in frustration and unlocked it to roll it up. 

“There. Better now?” 

Satisfied that he had convinced her, he sat upright on the roof, to position himself from falling. 

“Remember those cryo-pods back at that room?” 

Alli nodded in response, confused about the topic that came out of nowhere. “Yeah, what about it?”

“… I think you should check them out.”

*****

“So, how long have you been down there?” She asked him as they walked back to the cavern. 

She had given Keith an extra coat since it was the middle of winter here, and she couldn’t help but think how he was able to make it from the cavern to her house without freezing. 

“Well, it was all a blur at first. The last thing I remembered was when we managed to defeat the Galra Empire, then we got called to the castle for something, maybe urgent. Then… Allura or Coran both weren’t there when we got back in. Then we got… knocked out.”

“Knocked out? By whom?”

“We didn’t get a chance to see who it was. We never did.” He pulled the coat closer to keep himself warm. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“…I’d rather not talk about it, okay?” Alli replied rather sharply. “The only question is, who else was down there?”

“There was Coran, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, even the mice. But we don’t know who else, besides that guy, those vampires, and that thing.”

“And who else was with that guy?”

“Huh?”

“That man, Van Helsing. Who else was with him?”

“We don’t know, we didn’t ask him,” Keith answered it when they finally reached the entrance to the grotto. 

He stepped back to the side a bit, Alli raising her eyebrows at him. 

“Ladies first?” 

She still had her eyes brows raised at him, not moving a muscle at all. 

“No?” 

Without waiting for a response, he slipped through the hole, Alli right behind him a few seconds later. 

She landed feet first but didn’t tumble this time, her hands meeting the ground. The frozen ice where the first creature had broken free from was still there, as well as the small bits that it left behind, but she didn’t want to think about it. 

She felt the boy’s hand land on her shoulder softly, as if he was telling her to stop. She turned to see that his orbs had shrunk, and he wasn’t moving for a moment. He was listening. To what, though? 

“What is it?” She whispered to him. 

“There’s something down here,” he said softly. “Follow me and don’t make a sound.” 

He pulled out his knife, and taking her hand into his own, they headed to where the room of the cryo-pods is. 

The moment they got inside, the rest of the cryotubes were opened, and trails of water were all that is left behind. The two looked up to see where the trails lead to. 

“They must have woken up before we came back here,” Keith theorized and knelt to examine one of the tracks. “Allura, Shiro or that Van Helsing guy must have found the rest of whoever else was down here, and found some way to wake them up.”

“They might have used the book,” Alli piped in. “But I never got a chance to read the rest of it before I came back here.”

“Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran were there along with the others that Helsing was trying to find, and there was something else down here, besides the two things that tried to kill you.” 

Keith stood and froze suddenly, his hand still on the knife. “One of them who turns out to be about a few feet taller than us, and has three copper teeth.”

“How did you know about his teeth?” She didn’t notice someone reaching up behind her. 

“Because he is standing right behind you. Run!” 

He shoved her instantly behind him and slashed his sword across the stranger. Alli nearly tripped, although she regained her balance, and seeing the battle going on between the mullet-haired boy and the new creature, could only stand in horror and watch it all unfold. 

This creature was much different than the vampires and the two various monsters. It has stitches across its face, and it has a cape to cover its body. 

Unfortunately, the creature had an upper hand and picked Keith up by the collar of his coat before throwing him across the room. He ended up hitting the floor, dropping his sword in the process. 

It then turned to face her, and she could swear that she saw anger in its eyes. 

“Oh, fuck!” She cursed, and ran to the door. 

She didn’t have much of a choice, she had to escape. 

The creature was unsuccessful at catching her, for she slid between its legs easily, and got up quickly, rushing out the door. 

Keith was glad internally that she got out safe. The feeling of relief turned to fear suddenly when the creature followed behind, ignoring him who is still on the ground. He quickly picked up his knife and chased after them. 

Alli looked over her shoulders a few times to check if the monster is still after her, which is still after her. 

“Oh, great, just fucking great,” she thought. “Can this day get any worse than this?” 

She then bumped unintentionally into someone else, but when she looked up, she was shocked and glad to see Shiro with his arm ready for battle. 

“Did he hurt you?” He checked over her to find any injuries. 

“What the hell do you think?”

“Get behind me.” 

He pushed her gently behind him and, with it approaching, was about to attack him when another feminine voice caught both his, the creature and Alli’s attention. 

“Wait! Stop!” 

Another woman, who is dressed much different than Allura, stepped in front of Shiro in a flash, and her sword clashed with Shiro’s prosthetic arm before it could touch the monster. 

Keith soon appeared, with his knife ready, as well as Allura, Van Helsing, and more people, some human-looking, others alien, two of them who turn out to Alteans like Allura, but with the same ears and marks like her, behind them. The creature stopped as well, more startled than Alli and Shiro at the different woman’s sudden appearance. 

“What the–?” Alli started, but the man talked, not even giving her a chance to say anything. 

“Ma’am, you need to move, I have to fight this monster–”

“Who are you calling monster here?!” The being cut him off and move to tackle him, but Van Helsing and another man, shorter than him, stop him before it could move forward. 

“Okay, what is going on–”

“You need to move now, ma’am. You don’t know how dangerous this thing is.”

“I don’t care. This poor thing didn’t anything wrong, and you’re going to kill it?”

“Anna, there’s something we have to tell you about,” Van Helsing was the next person to speak up. “We’ll deal with this later.”

“What about her?” One of the Paladins pointed at Alli, everyone turning to the direction. “What did she do?”

“All she did was read that book,” Allura answered before anyone could speak. “She did nothing more.”

“Guys–”

“Keith, don’t tell me you got a girlfriend,” another creature, with green skin, small horns and yellow eyes, spoke up. 

“She’s not my girlfriend, actually.”

“Don’t lie to us. You got a girlfriend. You like her, don’t you?”

“Pidge, I’m telling you she’s not–”

“Everyone, calm down. We can figure this out–”

“Don’t make me use excessive force on you right now–”

“I will take you down if you do not lower your weapon this instant–”

“SHUT UP!! Will everyone just calm down and just SHUT THE FUCK UP?!” 

Alli’s voice booming through the area, everyone in the room suddenly stopped arguing to face her. Her breath escaping from her lips slowly rhythmically, she scanned the surroundings to make sure they have all quieted down. 

“Wow, she’s feisty,” the Paladin in the blue armor muttered, receiving a glare from Keith. “I like her.”

“Guys, stop it, now,” Shiro called out, approaching losing his self-control. “This girl means no harm here, she’s just an innocent being.”

“Then what was she doing here anyway? This is no place for a young child like her to be here!” The young woman, with copper-colored eyes and hair, spoke up, clearly troubled for her well-being. 

“Seventeen, actually,” Alli corrected. “And I want to know what the hell is going on right now.”

“We’ll explain everything as soon as we can,” Shiro reassured her. “Right now, we need to figure out how we got trapped here in the first place. Allura, are you sure you didn’t call us back here before we got frozen?”

“I was positive. Coran and I got knocked out before you managed to defeat that monster. Not you, sir.” Allura apologized to the creature, who is still being held back by Van Helsing and the shorter man. 

“And what about those guys?” The boy in the blue armor pointed at Van Helsing and the others who are with him. “How did they get here before us?”

“We must have been stuck in the same situation as you are,” the man replied. “Only we’ve been trapped here a lot longer than you have.”

“How long did you think you’ve been stuck?”

“I… have no idea.”

“Um, quick question, miss. What year is this anyway?” The Yellow Paladin, whom Alli guessed is Hunk, asked her. 

“Um, it’s 2013. Why?” 

When she did answer, Allura gasped in shock and ran to the control panel, her and the others following behind her. A holographic screen appeared when she touched the table-like pad, and words in another language Alli didn’t understand popped up. Allura typed something before she stopped in an instant. 

“We’ve been in cryosleep for 10,000 years,” she said finally. “Now, we woke up after… 15 years.” 

Keith’s eyes widened, as the male Altean and the other Paladins looked at each other in bewilderment. 

“And what about us?” The shorter man piped in. “How do you think we’ve been asleep?”

Allura typed in more and a few more words popped up soon after. “You’ve been trapped in cryosleep… for about 125 years.”

“No, that’s impossible,” the woman, Anna, spoke in pure shock. “We can’t be asleep. Transylvania, our people, our home. They couldn’t have survived without us.” 

She tried to hold back her tears, but the moment Van Helsing wrapped his arms around her, she couldn’t hold them back anymore. The rest of the people stood there, recollecting about how long they had been confined in frozen slumber. 

“Look, I’m really sorry about what happened to you guys,” Alli finally spoke after a few seconds. “But I need more answers here. What the hell is going on? Who are you guys? What is this place? I mean, I know who you guys are, but the rest, I don’t know you guys.”

“The other Paladins here are Lance, in the blue, Pidge, green, and Hunk, yellow,” Allura explains. “And this is Coran, my advisor; Matt Holt, Pidge’s brother; Slav; Shay, a Balmeran with her people; Krolia, Kolivan, Thace, Ulaz, Antok, Regris, they are part of the Blade of Marmora.”

“The Blade of Marmora? What the fuck is that?”

“A rebel organization against the Galra Empire, the most relentless empire of the universe.” 

“I am Anna Valerious,” Anna spoke up. “And the thing that has been chasing you is ‘Frankenstein’. But I lost my brother to the monsters you have encountered you have first encountered.”

“You mean that Dracula guy and those three women? Those are the beasts? And what about those things?”

“We do not know about those things if that is what you mean,” the shorter man spoke up, having released his grip from the being who had been chasing her. “I am Carl Issacson, by the way. But shouldn’t you be young to curse like that?”

“I am seventeen years old, not eight,” Alli sassed. “But what about the book anyway? All I did was read it, not meaning to release you guys.”

“We understand that, but not only have you released us, you’ve also released our enemies that killed those we love.” Anna stomped over to her, her sword near her throat. “Do you have any idea what you have done?! Do you know what they are capable of?! Now they are going to kill people and they won’t rest-”

“Leave her alone!” Keith yelled and pulled out his sword while standing protectively in front of the teen. “She didn’t mean any of this to happen, all right?! She was curious, everyone’s like that!” 

“Keith, that’s enough!” The brown-eyed woman stepped in between Anna and the Red Paladin. “Enough.” 

She glared him down until he sighed and put away his blade. 

“Miss Valerious, this girl was just curious. Now there is nothing wrong with someone who has something like that, and there will be no questioning about it, at all. Am I making myself clear?”

“… Fine,” Anna answered in defeat and sheathed away her sword. “But if she ever does anything reckless, I will make sure she understands the consequences.”

“Now listen here-” Alli began, but the other woman checked her. 

“I will have to deal with you later, too,” the woman said sternly. 

Alli seemed like she wanted to argue back, but stopped and could only watch the rest of the event happen. 

This is going to be fun, she thought sarcastically. 

But at least she had some answers to her questions.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains language, mentions of past abuse and neglect. If these trigger you, do not read.

Murmurs and silent laughter filled the room as she watched them from the doorway interact with one another. Some of them wrapped in blankets to warm them up from years in cryosleep, others drinking warm cups to help thaw them faster. She half smiled at them as she recalled the times she used to spend with her family, wrapped up in blankets next to the fireplace. 

“Ms. Darrow, may I speak with you, please?” Carl’s voice reached her ears. 

She nodded, following Carl to a more private area away from the cryopod room. “How did you manage to find us here, perchance?”

“Well, if you must know, I was trying to clear my head from some rough shit,” Alli replied, unable to keep away the night she had the argument with her uncle. 

“And what were you trying to clear from your head?”

“Just some…family issues,” she mumbled loud enough for Carl to hear. 

“Family issues?”

“My uncle, the main problem.”

“And what has he done to you, exactly?”

Alli pondered for a moment, but a part of her mind wanted her to tell about the pain and suffering her uncle had put her through. A part of her mind wanted her to let out all the negative thoughts about him, even though he is her family relative left here. 

“He’s never given any damn about me at all. He’s always out and about picking up women, drinking in bars, not even bothering to come back until 4 in the morning. But the worst part about him was that…he…he…he hurt me a lot. He hit me, yelled at me, ignored me so much he’d even ‘forget’ to pick me up from school. He even blamed me for anything that has ever happened. He acted like this for about seven years before he abandoned me, and I haven’t heard from him since. Until he decided to show up again three years later, and try to make my life a living hell again!”

Alli hadn’t realized she had rambled loudly about the relative who never cared about or for her until she felt stares from behind. 

She spun around to find the Alteans, the Transylvanians, the Blades, and the rest watching her in horror and solemnness. She gazed back at the ground to avoid the stares before she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry you have to live with it, Allison,” Anna spoke to her softly. “And I’m truly sorry for treating you like you’re a threat.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, it’s not your fault,” Alli replied, tears already forming. “In fact, if you need to blame anyone, blame me. If I hadn’t read that book of yours, none of this shit would have happened.”

She suddenly felt something rub against her leg, and she looked down to see a dog with dark and light blue fur and white markings over his yellow eyes, which glanced up at her with comfort. She then noticed four mice, one of them the largest with a white patch on his eye, on her shoulder and hugging her cheek in sympathy. 

Alli was surprised at first, but then she grinned lightly as she returned the small hugs, wiping away the tears. Krolia walked over to kneel next to the dog. 

“Seems the mice and Kosmo had taken a liking to you already,” she said, scratching the canine by the ear. 

“Kosmo?” Alli asked, raising an eyebrow and lightly petting the blue-colored mouse. 

“That was Keith’s idea, of course,” Krolia replied. 

Alli glanced at Keith, who simpered and gazed at the ground. His face was flushed red as he shifted his foot on the floor shyly. 

She smiled the moment she saw him staring at her, and he grinned back at her. She could have sworn she saw him blush. Her cheeks turned red as well. 

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk saw the eye contact between the two and smirked. 

“Hey, Keith, aren’t you gonna your girlfriend around the castle?” Hunk asked him, smiling mischievously. 

“She’s not my girlfriend, guys,” Keith snapped lightly, his cheeks still red. 

“Keith would love to show you around the Castle,” Allura replied and turned to Alli, whose face was no longer blushing. “Besides, it’s better to make amends for our first meeting.”

“Guess so,” Alli shrugged and grinned somewhat. 

Keith looked at Allura and Shiro, who nodded at him in encouragement before the mullet-haired man joined her as they headed down the hallway. 

*****

“And this is the training room, where we improve our fighting skills for future battles,” Keith showed Alli a large chamber with an area over the room. 

“Wow, it’s so big,” her voice echoed off the walls as she viewed the room in wonder. 

Keith watched her twirl around to catch the full glimpse of the training area, her hair flowing behind her and her eyes staring at the ceiling in amazement. 

“Would you like to see somewhere else?” Keith asked her, eyeing her carefully. 

“Actually, I just want to see how this works. Y’know, what levels there are and how you train here.”

Keith felt hesitant about it. If she got hurt, it would be his fault, and Allura and Nabel would not be happy with him. But then again, she would love to know how this works, as long as she is in a safe distance. 

He shrugged in response and pulled out a knife from his jacket. “Um, sure. Just, uh, step back for a bit, okay? The last thing I need is for Allura to be mad at me.”

“Sure,” Alli responded and step further enough to be safe from the upcoming action. 

Keith pulled off his jacket and threw it next to where Alli is standing. 

“Activate robot,” he called up. 

A beep was heard, and a figure, which is revealed to be a robot in white and gold, appeared from the floor with a staff-like weapon. Keith readied himself as the robot charged at him and dodged its first attack perfectly, flipping in the air and landing on the ground feet-first. 

He slashed his knife at the robot, which dodged as well, and tried to knock his knife away from him. Keith held it in a tight, but firm grip and blocked its attack with the sword. 

Alli watched in awe as Keith and the robot dueled for what seemed like a while before the mullet-haired man cut off the robot’s head and the android fell to the ground. 

He smirked in victory before another robot appeared and jumped at him from behind. 

“Watch out!” Alli called out. 

Keith heard her warning in time, and he dodged the surprise attack before sticking his knife at the robot’s back. It fell to the ground, just as another android kicked Keith in the chest, sending him flying across the room. He landed with a grunt, his knife meters away from him. 

The third robot turned from him to Alli, who froze the moment it saw her, and charged at her. 

She frantically looked around the room for any weapon, then she remembered she had brought the switchblade back from Allura and pulled it out. 

‘Better than nothing,’ she thought, just as the robot swung its staff at her. 

She dodged it swiftly and ran the other way to try and avoid its attacks. But no matter how hard she ran, it was faster than her and cut off her chances of escape. She slashed her switchblade at it, but it avoided her attacks every time she nearly had a hit at it. 

Keith got up from the floor to find the third battle bot fighting Alli now, even though she was at a safe distance. He then saw his knife on the floor and picked it up in a flash. 

Just as he reached her in time, the third bot had already knocked Alli’s switchblade from her hands and kicked her underneath her feet to the ground. He immediately blocked the attack before the staff could even hit her, and he pushed the bot back with all his might while trying not to lose his focus on it. 

“Go, get out of here now!” Keith called for Alli. 

But she was frozen with fear. The robot which had charged at her reminded her of her uncle, with the staff being replaced by an empty bottle in its hands in her mind. She stayed on the ground, her eyes fixed to the floor in front of her. 

The robot suddenly pushed Keith away with its weapon and raised his staff to attack her again. She closed her eyes tightly and raised her arms to defend herself. 

“Deactivate robot!” Allura demanded loudly from the entrance. 

The robot stopped mid-way and fell to the floor. She sighed in relief when she saw she made it in time. 

Keith got up from the floor, despite sustaining injury from the fight and helped the auburn-haired girl gently by the elbow. Her body was trembling and her heavy breathing was shuddering. 

“Hey, hey, hey, are you alright?” Keith asked her. 

She didn’t answer. She was still panting heavily, her eyes wide with frozen terror. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s gone now,” he continued, cupping his hands on her face and his thumb rubbing gently on her cheek. 

She still didn’t answer, but she instantly wrapped her arms around his body, even though her body is no longer trembling from the shock and terror. Keith was taken aback by the sudden move, but he held her as he soothed her and rocked her gently. 

With Nabel, Coran and the Paladins behind her, Allura rushed over to the pair, worry and anger mixed together in her eyes. 

“What were you doing in here?! Do you know how dangerous this would have been if you had been in the way?!” 

“Allura, calm down!” Keith piped in, still hugging Alli. “She was out of the way before it went at her. It’s my idea to do this—“

“No, I did it!” Alli screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes filling with tears. 

Keith, Allura, Nabel, and the rest stared at her in worry and compassion. 

“I made him show me how it works! I wanted to know how this works, I wanted to see this! I’m the one you need to punish, not him!” 

Alli broke down as her knees sank down to the floor, her arms cradling her body and shaking. Her mind was racing through every memory of her uncle’s violent rage and every hot he threw at her, no matter how hard she fought back. With every hit, every slap, every insult he threw at her, she was already crumbling down in front of him—

She got up from the ground, and sniffles, ignoring the worried faces of the people surrounding her. 

“...I—I should go,” she said finally. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Alli headed for the exit, waking past Shiro and Allura, as they watched her walk away with worry. 

“Alli, wait—“ Keith started for her, but Nabel stopped him. 

“Keith, just let her go,” she told him, her hand on his shoulder. “She just needs some time alone.”

Keith wanted to protest but saw that Nabel was right, and watched helplessly as Alli strolled towards the exit of the Castle. 

*****

A sob broke from within her as Alli contemplated at the picture of her father. A picture of her and her parents, any of them that would contain the faces of her mother and father. 

She wiped the tears from her cheeks as she picked up another picture of her and her mother. On a trip to Italy. Oh, God, her mom loved that place. With the sights, the sunsets, the food, the clothes there, the things they saw together. 

Alli smiled as she remembered her mother smiling at her as they stood in front of the magnificent view of the city of Italy. 

The ocean waves were crashing against the shore rocks in her head, she could hear her father and mother’s voices as she kept in gazing at the picture, as she continued to pretend that they were still alive and not having to watch helplessly their little girl being abandoned by her uncle.

She hugged the picture and sniffled silently, her eyes closed tightly to hold back the sadness. 

She then picked up her phone and eventually found a video of her father with two of his friends behind him on a hiking trail on a mountain. She pressed play, and the video began to move. 

“Hey, girls! Where are you?” Her father yelled over the wind. “I miss you! I know! I said I’d wait for you girls—“

One of his friends tripped over something but regained his footing quickly. 

“You okay?” Her father called back to him. 

After receiving an answer, he glanced back at the camera, as Alli laughed lightly. 

“Now get up here, Ann! I can’t make any promises! I love you both!”

“...I love you, too, Dad...” Alli said after the video had ended. 

He had sent it to her and her mother the day he went on that trail without them and sent to them to try and make it up to them. She could already imagine her mom wanting to yell at him, but was stuck with the view in front of her. 

It was all so beautiful. The sky, the sun disappearing over the mountains ahead...

A knock at the front door broke her out of her thoughts, and without hesitation, she still made her way from her room to the front door. 

“Donnie?” She practically yelled as she approached the door with a bat at the ready in her hands. “Don’t even think about coming ba—“

But when she opened the door, all she could see through her blurry vision was someone, one she had seen before back at the Castle, standing in front of her and looking at her with understanding and concern. 

“Sorry,” she said, as she set down the bat at the side. “Just thought you were someone else.”

“I understand your sadness,” Gabriel said to her softly, his hat covering his eyes to keep someone from seeing him. “But I think it’s best if you talk to me about the...current issue.”

Even though it was only about eleven in the evening, hours since she left the Castle, Alli nodded and let him in. 

Gabriel glanced around her room as Alli cleaned up the mess she had made during her alone time. 

“How long have you been living on your own?” He questioned her. 

“Since my uncle just went and abandoned me,” she replied, as she put away the photos in the photo album. “But my friend and his family were kind enough to look out for me.”

“They seem to care about you a lot.”

“They do,” she nodded. “I’ve known them for a while now. They’ve been checking over me once every month, made sure I don’t run out of food, or I’ve already paid for the electricity and plumbing, something like that.”

“And how did you manage to do that?”

“My dad...he taught me the basics before I was even five. You know, for one day when I’m living on my own.”

Gabriel nodded and spotted a Polaroid on the dresser. He picked it up and looked over it with wonder. 

“You know how to make this work?” He asked her. 

Alli saw Gabriel with the camera and took it from his hands gently. “Got this from my aunt, my mom’s sister, on my birthday. She figured that I would use it for trips some time.”

“And what about your parents?”

Alli stopped, biting her lip and holding back the tears again. How would she tell him about the death of her beloved parents, about she was left without a mother or a father to care for her?

She stared at the ground to try and avoid his gaze, but Gabriel already saw her looks. 

“You don’t have any, do you?” He asked her softly. 

Alli could only respond with a slow shake of her head, tears streaming down her cheeks again. 

Why is so hard to try and hold it all in? Why must her parents always be mentioned?

She turned her face away so that he wouldn’t see her sadness, let alone her tears. 

“I should have known. You’re an orphan,” Gabriel apprehended. 

“It was hard living with an uncle who abandoned you three years ago,” Alli sniffled. “I looked up to him before he changed when my parents died. Now...he might make my life a living hell again if he could.”

Gabriel’s heart shattered and the rage grew at the thought of a young girl, let alone a 15-year-old left alone by the only living family member here. He wanted to comfort her, tell her about not knowing his family either. 

But he couldn’t. He just stood there and looked at her with soft eyes. 

“I just didn’t want to accept the fact that I’ve lost most of my family,” Alli continued. “But every day, it became hard to hold it all in whenever my parents are mentioned. One word about them, and…I just…lose it.”

Gabriel continued to look at her with sympathetic stares. 

“But apparently, some jerks noticed, and they made the best opportunities to taunt me, try and break me however much the hell they like. Mainly my uncle. But I wanted to be strong, just like Mom and Dad wanted…”

Gabriel still stared at her with soft eyes, but internally, he was already holding back his anger for her uncle, for everything he and the other “jerks” had put her through for the past few years. How could such heartless monsters hurt an innocent human like her when she had already gone through so much heartbreak already?

“Sometimes, it’s best for something unexpected to happen, even when you’re not ready for it quite yet,” he told her. “And sometimes…they can change your life before you even know it.”

Alli turned to look at him with teary eyes. “How do you know?”

“I’ve lost my memories after I have battled Dracula,” Gabriel explained. “But it’s something I would discuss with you for another time.”

“I’ve been pretty much stupid crying like this, have I?” Alli wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled sheepishly. 

“Well, I see nothing strange about crying, especially when there’s someone there who cares about you,” Gabriel grinned lightly at her. 

There’s something familiar about her, yet he can’t put his finger in it…

“Anyways, can you help us get back on our feet in this future of yours?” Gabriel asked her.

Alli smiled. “Sure thing.”

*****

“And what about this one here?”

“That’s a college building, it’s where people go after they graduate high school for about four years,” Alli acknowledged, pointing at a building on her phone. “Whatever they studying for and what degree depends on how long they’re gonna be there.”

“And what about this?” Allura pointed at another picture on the phone. 

“Oh, that is Crete, Greece,” Alli sighed dreamily. “One of the most beautiful places on Earth. The food, the places you can go and see at the same time, even the weather is so lovely, the people there were so nice...”

“Have you ever been there before?” Nabel asked her, peeking from her documents. 

Plachu and Chulatt sat on Alli’s shoulder and head, while Platt and Chuchule rested on Allura’s shoulder, staring at the pictures on Alli’s phone. 

“You kidding? We went there for my grandpa’s birthday. That was one of his birthday wishes, to be there, so we went there a day early. It was so beautiful. He loved it very much.”

“And is that your best friend?” Stay pointed at a woman with brown short hair standing next to Alli on her device. 

“That’s my cousin and me in Texas,” Alli explained. “The only living relatives of mine are living a bit farther away from where I live, but I still get to visit them often as I can.” 

“She must be nice,” Romelle peeked over her shoulder to get a better look. “What’s her name?”

“Amanda, but she likes to be called Manda. Of course, it just stuck with her for a while...”

“Do you have any other family living near you?” Anna asked her as she cleaned her sword. 

“Not exactly,” Alli shrugged in response. “They’re in different states of the U.S., some of them aren’t too far from where I am. Why?” 

“Well, my brother and I were the last of our family after our father was gone,” Anna replied. “By the hands of Dracula and his brides. They’ve been trying to kill me and Velkan for years, while we were hunting them down to stop them.”

“And your brother?” 

Anna paused, a half-heartbroken, half-soft look in her eyes. She bit her lip to hold back the tears, the same way Alli had done. 

The younger human realized. “Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have brought him up…”

“I understand the feeling of losing someone you love,” Anna cut her off gently. “Velkan gave up his life saving me, and now…I’m the only Valerious left…”

Valerious…The last name rang in her mind, then she remembered when she was confronted by the brides, the different creature and Dracula. 

“…I’ve never seen anyone, except Anna Valerious, stand up to us this way…”

“So, you’re one of the Valeriouses, the people who had been chasing after Dracula for 300 years?” Alli asked her. 

“You’re correct,” Anna answered her and continued to clean her sword. “Though it is difficult being the last of your family.”

“And we’re not the only ones who had the people we loved dearly,” Nabel added, her eyes mixed with empathy and sadness. “Allura, Coran, and Romelle here lost Altea and their families to the hands of the Galra. Meanwhile, the Darkness, one of those creatures you have first encountered, murdered my family and my people, leaving me and a few survivors alive. But…I don’t know where they are right now.”

“If it makes you any better,” Alli said with a small smile after hearing about their losses. “They won’t be really here in real life, but at least you can still remember them in your heart, even though it hurts to think about them. And trust me, it gets better over time.”

The women smiled at her in gratitude, including Anna, who stopped cleaning her sword for a moment to look at her. 

“We appreciate your support and care about us,” Allura spoke to Alli. “It felt really better to talk to someone after a long time, no offense, girls.” She said to the others. 

“None taken.” They all replied. 

Alli giggled and they went back to her showing them about her world. 

*****

“So, you’re going to want to ball up your fists like this, right?” 

“Uh-huh.”

“And, now, you want to…keep them balled up, even when you hit someone,” Gabriel continued, using his hands as training pads for Alli, who had her fists balled up. “Now you have to hit them, really hard like you mean it.”

“I mean it!” Alli threw a punch at his hands, but barely missed it and spun around due to her mis-shot. 

She yelped and nearly fell to the ground, but Gabriel was able to catch her by her arms in time. She giggled, and Gabriel chuckled with her, too. 

“Alright, we’re gonna try that again in a bit,” he told her. 

She nodded in response. “Sure.”

Nearly two weeks since the reawakening of the people living in the cavern, which turns out to be the Castle of Lions. Moved as quietly away from the city of Anchorage as possible to avoid attention, but still kept too far from Alli’s home. The people who had reawakened after years of cryosleep were adjusting to modern times, fortunately with help from Alli. 

Meanwhile, the Paladins, Blade of Marmora and Alteans are still looking for any other survivors out there in the universe, including any whereabouts of the Galran Empire. 

When Alli had asked about the Galran Empire, Allura and Coran have explained to her that they are lead by Emperor Zarkon, Witch Hagar and the crown Prince Lotor. The menacing, ruthless monsters of all the universe, intent on destroying Voltron and conquering the entire galaxy. 

“Sounds like they are pretty hell-bent in taking over the world,” Alli’d said after Allura finished explaining about the Galran Empire to her. 

“More like taking over different worlds. They would do anything to get what they wanted,” Coran had related to her. 

Alli was still thinking about it as she leaned against the wall, stealing a glance at the Paladins who are practicing their battle skills. Her eyes landed on the mullet-haired lad, as he swiftly dodged the robot’s attacks here and there. Sweat was covering his face, pouring down his cheeks and a few drops flying off of his chin. 

Play and Chuchule saw the blush forming on Alli’s cheeks and made squeaking giggles while sitting on her shoulder. She gave them a small glare, hiding her blushing face with her hand, and returned her gaze back to the Paladins. 

“So, how’s the training going over here, Allison?” Krolia asked her, taking a seat next to the human girl with a bottle of water in her hand. 

“So far, I’m still learning the punches,” Alli replied, still staring at Keith from afar. “But I’m getting there. And please, call me Alli.”

“I’m surprised that you are getting used to being around with us, after maybe a few hundred years,” Krolia remarked, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “You don’t hesitate about helping us getting back on our feet, even though you don’t know us.”

“Well, it’s what I do, really. I don’t think about leaving people alone when they needed help. And as much as I hate to admit it, you don’t seem pretty bad. Even Keith.”

“Well, he certainly does seem to enchant you.”

Alli quickly turned to face Krolia who was grinning at her. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it, her cheeks changing to a rosy color again. 

“C’mon, you obviously like my son,” Krolia chuckled. 

“Who’s there to like?” Alli tried to act nonchalant, keeping her head up and her back straight. “Keith’s just a good guy, that’s all.”

Platt and Chuchule rolled their eyes at her and giggled again. 

“Right,” Krolia nodded, still smiling. “So why don’t you say that to him right now?”

The auburn-haired girl instantly glanced towards the direction of the Paladins and nearly yelped when she saw Keith standing over her, with a towel wrapped around his neck. His violet eyes caught her sky blue pair and they were trapped in a staring contest before Keith broke the silence. 

“Any improvements at all?” He asked her, smirking. 

“Uh, uh, um, yeah,” Alli stuttered, her cheeks still red. “I’m—I’m getting to the part where, um, I’m about to knock out a bad guy.”

“Like the Galra?” Keith raised an eyebrow, still smirking. 

“Um, yeah, something like that,” Alli stuttered and messed with a strand of her hair. 

She can feel Platt, Chuchule, and Krolia grinning at her widely, the two mice wiggling their eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes at them and lightly pushed them off her shoulder. 

“Wanna try one of these training techniques Gabe showed you on me?” Keith asked her, smiling at her. “Maybe I can be your fighter for today.”

“Why the hell not?” Alli shrugged and got up from the floor. “Felt like wanting to fight someone right now anyway.”

Hunk, Lance and Pidge stopped fighting when they saw Keith and Alli heading to the middle of the training room. 

“Ooh, this is gonna be good,” Lance smirked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. 

Keith threw his towel next to him and placed himself in a fighting stance. Alli did the same, bopping up and down lightly and shaking her arms as a warm-up. She breathed a few times rapidly before raising her fists and balling them up like Gabriel had taught her. 

Gabriel, Anna, Shiro, and Antok stopped training for a moment to watch Keith and Alli practice her fighting moves. 

Keith started running towards her, swinging his arm at her in a fast motion. Alli dodged the attack and grabbed his arm. The mullet-haired man was unable to process what was happening before she spun around, still gripping his arm, and flipped him down to the floor. 

He nearly lost his consciousness, but he was able to stay awake to hear laughter from his mother, his friends, Gabriel…

And Alli. 

He set his gaze on her giggling face, a few strands of hair stuck to her skin, and her hand close to her cheek. Her face was light red while she was laughing, her eyes closed lightly. Her mouth was moving, but he didn’t know what she was saying, apart from the fact that she is smiling. 

His cheeks grew hot red at the sight of the girl towering over him upside down, even as Shiro helped him, laughing as well. 

“She actually took you out pretty hard and quick, did she?” He chuckled, patting Keith in the back gently, due to the hard impact on the floor. 

The younger man could only nod in response, his cheeks still red, as he looked at her in complete shock. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk also laughed hard from the event that had unfolded. 

“Alright, I think we’re done for the day, Paladins,” Allura said, giggling as well. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

As soon as everyone cleared the training room, Keith was still blushing from the incredible action Alli had made with him. She was strong as hell, and she was fast as lightning. Even though she was starting to learn how to throw a punch, she was able to defeat him in under a second. 

“Still thinking about your girlfriend, Mullet?” Lance asked him, smirking, later on in the locker room. 

Keith instantly remembered he was reddening the whole time and shook his head to chase away the warmth from his cheeks. 

“What? Who? No way, Lance,” he laughed nervously. “You’re crazy. Who?” 

“Don’t lie, man,” Hunk added, smirking, too. “You were blushing the whole time after she had taken you down. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“No way, guys. It’s just—um…I gotta get going.” Keith stammered and ran out of the locker room as fast as he could. 

“Lover boy,” Lance mumbled to Hunk, who was attempting to hold back his laughter, before returning to applying face lotion to his face. 

*****

“Log diary #52: about twenty-six days since I have last seen Alli. She still hasn’t forgiven me for leaving her like this yet. A crying mess, with bruises, cuts and heartbreaking insults that my drunken, uncontrollable self had left on her three years ago. All I wanted was to make amends to her for everything I’ve done to her. Tell her I’m really sorry for abandoning her. But…she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t even let me talk when I tried to apologize to her. That was something I understood. If she ever finds this, I want her to know that I love her very much, too much to have her hurt by a self that is always drinking, uncontrollable, trapped in rage over any little mistake she made. Including my brother and Ann. I’ve always loved my niece more than anything else in this world. But I know that my other self wouldn’t allow that. Even if it did, she won’t forgive me for what I have done to her. And she’d probably never will.”


End file.
